Chapter 274: Family Man (8)

"Sieri. Have you been well?"

".....Yes."

Sieri looked depressed. It felt like I hadn't spoken with her for a long time. As I sat down on the chair in my office, she clung tightly to my side and began fondling my chest. Because I had just rolled around on the dirt floor after being pushed by AA, my body smelled like earth. Sieri sniffed and drew circles on my chest with her finger.

"I missed you."

"We see each other every day when we're at home, Sieri."

"I still missed you more. Lucius. I want you to want me just as much as I want you."

I stroked her head and made her straddle me. Even though I treated her like a child, Sieri showed no resistance. Instead, as if to act even more spoiled, she pressed her body close and overtly shoved her buttocks against me, rubbing them against my genitals.

"There's nothing to handover. Instead, please stay with me for that amount of time."

"Understood, Sieri."

AA was washing up. Elsi and Eve went outside, saying they were going to experiment with the weapons. I squeezed Sieri's breasts and spoke.

"Sieri. I'm sorry. I've been neglecting you lately, haven't I? You are all I have."

"Liar. That's a lie. You have so many people more important than me."

Sieri seemed to be sulking. I had been neglecting her recently, but I didn't expect her to be this upset. I held her tightly and whispered.

"What should I do to make you feel better?"

"Please stay with me all day today. That's all I need. Okay?"

I had no choice but to hesitate at those words. I had to fuck AA like a dog starting today, but she was throwing a deal at me here? As I hesitated for a moment, Sieri's face began to contort. Seeing her complexion gradually darken and her eyes tearing up, I spoke urgently.

"Of course I should stay with you! Sieri. Of course I will stay with you. We are family, aren't we? I was just thinking if I had any additional schedules today."

".....Okay."

Sieri leaned her back against me, smiling shyly again. Her small shoulders were held tightly in my hands. As I massaged her shoulders, she closed her eyes and spoke.

"I shouldn't say this, but I've been so jealous lately that you're always hanging around with Ms. Eve. I'm of no help, and you always said that, didn't you? That I'm a huge help just by handling the internal affairs of the territory. But, but as expected, that alone isn't enough. I always want to be by your side and be of help......"

"You are enough for me right now, Sieri."

"I am lacking."

Sieri was resolute. I hugged her tightly. Our cheeks touched and squished softly against each other. Sieri's cheeks were still as soft as a baby's skin. She didn't seem to take special care of it, so it was truly fascinating. I spoke to Sieri.

"Sieri. Tell me a story about the past."

"A story about the past?"

"The day we first met. And the day you first fell for me. Tell me that story. I want to hear it from your own mouth."

I was curious. It felt like I could find out a fragment of my childhood here. Since I didn't know when I would go to the eastern plains, now wasn't the time to meet my biological mother. Sieri closed her eyes and began to carefully pull out her memories. She mumbled and narrowed her glabella. It was quite a long time ago, so it made sense if she couldn't remember.

Sieri's eyes scrunched up as she thought for a long time. It was right around the time I felt she was taking too long just to recall the past. She opened her mouth with a bewildered tone.

"So, um...... when I first saw you...... I was walking down the hallway."

"The hallway?"

"Yes. And then I opened the door to the boys' dormitory......"

"You opened the door to the boys' dormitory?"

Why was this story coming out when I asked her when she first saw me? Sieri herself had a slightly confused face. As if the memory in her head didn't make common sense, she gently shook her head and continued her story.

"Um, and then I was wandering around, checking the beds one by one."

"Why did you do that?"

"I don't know. Why did I do that? Why, why was I wandering around like that at night?"

She even said it was at night. I smacked my lips and stroked her hair. What was this? Sieri was a pervert who wandered around at night looking through the boys' beds? Was there such lore in the game? No, there wasn't. Sieri was the most minor of minor characters, appearing in only one scene within the in-game world. The side of her that she had shown so far had absolutely no connection to such a bizarre hobby.

"Keep talking."

Cold sweat trickled down Sieri's forehead. She was afraid of something. What was it? What was she afraid of? What the hell had happened to this child?

"T-That is. As I was looking around the boys' quarters like that...... one by one, one by one...... why, w-why did I even?"

Sieri's face turned pale. Fuck, one by one? What was this? What did she do one by one?

"Sieri. What did you do to them one by one? Hmm?"

".....I checked their faces. I checked their faces one by one. Yes. That's right. I remember that. Strangely, that memory is lingering very vividly in my mind. I infiltrated the dormitory, secretly opened the door, and checked their faces one by one."

"Why did you check their faces?"

"I don't know. Then I found you, Lucius, and pointed at you with my finger...... and then......"

"And then?"

"I don't remember. That was the first time I saw you, Lucius. Why had I forgotten it until now? Why would I forget such a suspicious and strange memory?"

Sieri looked confused. I was confused too. What the hell. Something like that happened? The reason we got close wasn't natural? Actually, that made sense. How could a farming family's daughter get close to Lucius, who was born a noble? A natural encounter between the two of them was impossible. But Sieri 'chose' me? Based on what criteria did she choose me?

"And after that? What did you do after that? How did we get closer? Sieri. You were my childhood friend, weren't you?"

"Yes. That's right. I was your childhood friend, Lucius, and we always hung out together...... and I became a nun. And, I thought I would help you. I diligently listened to the doctrine of the Archdeity Church, and people around me praised me for being a really good child. And I thought I would be assigned to the same region, but I was assigned to the neighboring territory."

Sieri was trembling. Her face looked like she was also terrified of the memory she had just recalled. She wasn't joking around, either. If she had any intention of enjoying wealth and glory, she would have done so already. I hugged Sieri tightly and spoke.

"Sieri, it's okay. The past doesn't matter. Okay?"

"But, but, Lucius...... I-I'm scared. What kind of person was I in the past? My memory is weird. I don't remember at all why I entered the Archdeity Church seminary in the first place, or how I got in. Why am I only noticing now that this is strange? Why do I have this memory in my mind?"

This wasn't an issue I could handle alone. I needed help. There were only two people who could definitively clarify Sieri's memories. Sieri's parents. I took the trembling Sieri to her room and put her to sleep. She asked me to hold her hand until she fell asleep. I stroked her hand and reassured her. At the same time, I had someone summon Sieri's parents.

Right around the time Sieri fell into a soft slumber, I received contact that Sieri's parents had arrived. They seemed to have been working in the fields, as their hands and clothes were entirely covered in dirt. There had been no need to fetch them in such a hurry, but it seemed the servant had simply dragged them here based on my urgent request.

Since they were Sieri's parents, I had proposed to let them live comfortably, but these elderly people had refused my proposal, asking to be allowed to live as they were. They looked slightly bewildered because I had suddenly called them over. The old man opened his mouth. His face was full of worry for Sieri.

"Did something, um, happen to our Sieri?"

"No. Nothing happened. Please rest assured, father-in-law."

"Aigo, father-in-law, you say. It is burdensome for you to say those words."

Deep wrinkles were etched into the old man's face as he spoke. His face was far too old for him to have a daughter around Sieri's age. I asked.

"Why did Sieri enter the Archdeity Church training center in the capital city? Was it her own wish?"

"Yes. She herself said she wanted to go. Because she was a child we somehow got at a late age, we wanted to do everything for her, so we became greedy. The Lord of Delmon lent us the money to cover travel expenses to the capital city, along with a few other things. The lord even provided support for living expenses every year."

The Lord of Delmon was the blonde, tanned, chubby lord who was governing the neighboring territory when I woke up in this world. To think he had been plotting such an insidious scheme since the days Sieri was attending the seminary, he was no ordinary insidious bastard. To think he had been plotting an NTR scheme even before meeting me. As expected, I thought it was a good thing I killed him.

"We still feel sorry that the money became a debt and placed a burden on Sieri."

"I see. Anyway, it was Sieri's own intention, right?"

"Yes. That is correct."

The elderly person nodded his head. I asked again.

"But a late child, you say. You didn't have a child for quite a long time."

At those words, the elderly person hesitated before opening his mouth.

"W-Well, actually, Sieri is not our biological daughter."

"She's not your biological daughter?"

What kind of bullshit was this now? The elderly person's face was full of signs of anxiety.

"Um... if by any chance, that child not being our biological daughter is a problem, please forget the words I just said. We've gone senile so......"

"No. It doesn't matter. Regardless of whose daughter Sieri is, Sieri is Sieri. Keep talking."

These bastards seemed to think that I, who didn't discriminate between mermaids and beastfolk, would discriminate against an orphan. What was this? Just how much of a bastard did they see me as? The elderly person opened his mouth.

"Sieri is a child we discovered by coincidence in the forest while we were working in the field. She was caught in a tree, as if telling us to take her. We didn't have a child even in our old age, so we brought her back, saying we should raise her since she appeared like this. She was a child who always helped with the farming and said she would succeed our farming family, but then, the year she turned 8, she suddenly declared she would become a nun. Because we wanted to do everything for Sieri, we immediately went to the lord and begged."

She suddenly said she wanted to become a nun as if she was a different person, and after entering the training center, she spied on the male students? I couldn't understand. It felt like riddles I couldn't solve right now were leading to one another in an endless chain. They were important issues, but they were things that couldn't be resolved immediately. Therefore, I decided to push these problems back for a moment.

Because I had to have sex with AA.